The John Seymour School for Self Sufficiency
Will Sutherland runs
self-sufficiency courses in France, teaching the methods and
philosophy developed by John Seymour. Will
worked for over 10 years
with John
Seymour in Ireland and, with John, created the New Complete Book of
Self Sufficiency published by Dorling Kindersley. In 2010 we
took our courses to the wine growing region near Bordeaux where the
warm weather, swimming pool and
excellent local wine made a nice change from the cooler
climes of Ireland.
Our Bordeaux Courses for 2011 have finished for this season.
The last of our summer students have departed and we are continuing the annual task of tidying up the garden before winter. The rotavator is doing its share of the work and, after September rains, we have just been able to burn all the brashings and pruning heaped up from the summer. We still have a huge crop of apples hanging in the trees while the quince and persimmon will not be ripe for some time yet.
As usual we enjoyed long philosophical discussions with our students late into the warm Bordeaux nights as the candles burned down and the bats whizzed around overhead. We picked the last of the huge courgettes, harvested the runner beans, cut fine heads of broccoli and processed a tasty crop of carrots. The last batch of rocket provided succulent salad and the onion crop added extra zest to our cooking. Our students enjoyed their digging, scything and weeding - not many blisters I'm glad to report. On the last course we killed, cleaned and ate one of the cockerels which hatched earlier in the year - a much more tender prospect than some of the older chickens we sampled on earlier courses.
The Bodrezal Mill - Join us from 6 November to 12 November to work and learn (to find out more click here)
At the end of September we headed north to Brittany to begin the challenging task of getting this old Mill back into working order. The Mill has a potential generating capacity of between 6 and 8 KW. At the same time we shall be working to create another new vegetable garden from what is now something of a jungle - as you can see from the picture. If the scheme is successful we hope to run courses at the Mill in 2012. During the winter we should be able to provide regular updates on our progress with the work.
What our students said:
"Thank you so much; we really enjoyed the course and found it VERY interesting and helpful. And what a beautiful place in which to do it!"
"Thank you for the wonderful holiday. The food has been amazing and we have really enjoyed the Class. You have a beautiful place here."
"Such great people. Such strong spirits. Great to know you guys!!"
"The training and experience at St Leger was the best birthday present I could have had. Your book and your work have opened up for us a better way to enjoy life in harmony with the land and nature."
Home made beer, sausage and quiche End of the day at basket making Students embarking on block laying
Our Bordeaux Courses for 2011 have finished for this season.
The last of our summer students have departed and we are continuing the annual task of tidying up the garden before winter. The rotavator is doing its share of the work and, after September rains, we have just been able to burn all the brashings and pruning heaped up from the summer. We still have a huge crop of apples hanging in the trees while the quince and persimmon will not be ripe for some time yet.
As usual we enjoyed long philosophical discussions with our students late into the warm Bordeaux nights as the candles burned down and the bats whizzed around overhead. We picked the last of the huge courgettes, harvested the runner beans, cut fine heads of broccoli and processed a tasty crop of carrots. The last batch of rocket provided succulent salad and the onion crop added extra zest to our cooking. Our students enjoyed their digging, scything and weeding - not many blisters I'm glad to report. On the last course we killed, cleaned and ate one of the cockerels which hatched earlier in the year - a much more tender prospect than some of the older chickens we sampled on earlier courses.
The Bodrezal Mill - Join us from 6 November to 12 November to work and learn (to find out more click here)
At the end of September we headed north to Brittany to begin the challenging task of getting this old Mill back into working order. The Mill has a potential generating capacity of between 6 and 8 KW. At the same time we shall be working to create another new vegetable garden from what is now something of a jungle - as you can see from the picture. If the scheme is successful we hope to run courses at the Mill in 2012. During the winter we should be able to provide regular updates on our progress with the work.
What our students said:
"Thank you so much; we really enjoyed the course and found it VERY interesting and helpful. And what a beautiful place in which to do it!"
"Thank you for the wonderful holiday. The food has been amazing and we have really enjoyed the Class. You have a beautiful place here."
"Such great people. Such strong spirits. Great to know you guys!!"
"The training and experience at St Leger was the best birthday present I could have had. Your book and your work have opened up for us a better way to enjoy life in harmony with the land and nature."
Home made beer, sausage and quiche End of the day at basket making Students embarking on block laying